Hedon is a town andcivil parish inHolderness in theEast Riding of Yorkshire, England. It is situated approximately 5 miles (8 km) east ofHull city centre. It lies to the north of theA1033 road at the crossroads of theB1240 andB1362 roads.It is particularly noted for theparish church of St. Augustine, known as the 'King of Holderness',[2] which is aGrade I listed building.[3]
In 1991, the town had a population of 6,066,[4] which had risen to 6,332 by the time of the2001 UK census.[5] By the2011 UK census, Hedon parish had a population of 7,100,[1]
The name Hedon is derived from theOld Englishhǣðdūn meaning 'heather hill'.[6]
Hedon is not mentioned in theDomesday Book which leads to the belief that it was a new town created by theNormans as a port.[7] Hedon was at its most prosperous in the 12th and 13th centuries and at one time was the 11th largest port in England.[8] The decline of the port came with the development of the port ofHull and the building of larger ships which were unable to get up the small river to Hedon.[9][10]
Hedon was given its first charter byHenry II in 1158 and was granted improved ones byKing John in 1200 andHenry III in 1248 and 1272.Edward III granted the most important charter which gave the town the right to elect a mayor.[11]
In 1415 Hedon was granted an important charter, which let the town have burgesses and other ministers and also gave the town amace. This mace, held inHedon Town Hall, is now the oldest surviving mace in the country, and is clearly a weapon of war.[12]
The town was aparliamentary borough until it was disenfranchised under theReform Act 1832.[13] It still enjoyed its borough status granted by its charters until 1974 when it was removed in a reorganisation of local government.[14]
To the west of the town, on the Twyers Estate, was a racecourse. The course staged its first meeting on 24 August 1888, withPrince Albert Victor, Duke of Clarence and Avondale in attendance on the second day, and racing continued until 1895. The racecourse was re-opened in 1906 but closed permanently after racing on 11 September 1909.[15] After closing it was developed into anaerodrome officially opened in 1929 byPrince George, Duke of Kent.[16] It was the arrival point of Hull-born aviatorAmy Johnson on her record-breaking solo flight to Australia in 1930, where she began a triumphant homecoming.[17] After ten years of operation, the aerodrome closed duringSecond World War, 1939–1945. Afterward, the site was briefly used as a motorcycle speedway track. Attempts were made in the late-1950s to reopen it for flying, which failed,[18] and the land has been used as grazing for cattle. A plaque commemorating the memory of the airfield was installed at the nearby Kingstown Hotel in July 2017.[19]
TheHull and Holderness Railway opened in 1854 which ran from Victoria Dock in Hull toWithernsea, through Hedon. Thestation was built to the north of the town and it proved a vital part of Hedon's transport system for a century. In 1965 Hedon lost its passenger service whenBritish Railways appointedLord Beeching to stop losses, and closed branch lines not making a profit. The line from Hull as far as Hedon remained open for goods until 1968.[20]
Hedon became the subject of national media attention in August 2000 when a freak mini-tornado in theHumber Estuary caused flash floods and hailstones to drop on parts of the town.[21]
Hedon was also affected by the widespread floods that occurred in theUK in the summer of 2007; areas affected included the Inmans / Westlands Estates and most areas near the Burstwick drain. A nearby village,Burstwick, saw the most homes flooded in the East Riding of Yorkshire.[22][23]
There have been plans to create a country park around theHedon Haven, south of the town.[24] There is an open-air concrete skate park in the south of the town between Draper's Lane and the Burstwick Drain.[25]
In late 2023, following a growing pattern in East Yorkshire by communication providers intending to provide their own services via their own individual infrastructure,[26]wooden poles to provide internet connections to Hedon were erected on behalf of MS3 Networks.[27] Changes to the law from April 2022 meant planning consent was not needed.
In early 2024, some poles were identified byHistoric England to be in violation of the requiredscheduled monument consent, a criminal offence, as the area was considered to have Scheduled Monument status. MS3 Networks' CEO stated their services could save residents "...more than £1m per year".[28] Previously in late 2023, MS3 poles in theLonghill area of Hull were felled by unknown members of the public, after protests by residents unhappy with the new poles.[29]
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